


My Favourite Colour Is You

by Potion_Against_Awkwardness



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam doesn’t want a soulmate, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Best Friends, Denial of Feelings, Dumb Bitch Disease, Fluff, I G U E S S, Jealousy, Kinda, M/M, Mutual Pining, Shiro’s a romantic, Slow Burn, They’re garrison first years, idk what kinda tags to use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 07:44:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17597168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potion_Against_Awkwardness/pseuds/Potion_Against_Awkwardness
Summary: In a world where everyone longs for their soulmate, Adam’s first instinct is to run.





	My Favourite Colour Is You

**Author's Note:**

> How do writers ever finish ANYTHING my procrastination made this take like 3 months.
> 
> Anyways, sorry for any spelling/grammar/whatever errors cuz mmmmm I wrote this during the time any good insomniac writes things + I don’t have a beta (rip)
> 
> Shiro may be my fav VLD character BUT GET READY FOR PEBBLES-

It’s somewhat like a reality check. It keeps me grounded, knowing what’s going on around me even if I really don’t. Maybe it’s because I was a 'highly observant child', maybe it’s because it’s to test my intelligence, something I've admittedly become slightly obsessed with, maybe it just calms me down. Whichever reason it is, stated or not, it’s become almost a necessity in my daily routine. 

 

Allow me to demonstrate.

 

My name is Adam Wright. I just turned fifteen and I’m a freshman in the garrison. Most people are surprised that I'm in the pilot program, but as long as I do well they won’t complain. I know as much about soulmates as pretty much everyone else. You’re born completely colourblind until you find and touch someone who you're apparently destined to be with and suddenly there’s colour. This has something to do with pheromones and once you come in contact with your partner, your brain releases chemicals which let you see colour. This is a permanent change, for some reason. It’s actually way more complicated than that, and people are still researching, but that’s all you need to know. Speaking of, another thing I just recently learned about: colours.

 

Watching them appear is one of the most beautiful things you could imagine. Some say it’s like the colour slowly fades in from all around, some say it comes from a source and spreads. I’d say it’s like watching a dance. All those new shades swirling around, never mixing but never leaving a single colour to be on its own, until they find their place and settle there. It happens long enough for me to watch in awe, but it’s over quick enough to feel just a bit of disappointment of not seeing them again. This disappointment unfortunately lasted long enough for whoever my soulmate is to turn around and make a small noise when they see me, making me turn around and see them too, which made me panic so much that I ran off to hide. I’ve been in the boy’s bathroom for about fourteen minutes now.

 

It’s not my fault. I just didn’t expect to find him. At all. I expected a few calm years at the garrison and then maybe a few years during which I worked and once I was done with that, I’d maybe, possibly meet someone and we’d see how it went goes from there. Now that plan’s officially ruined.

 

The door opens and I freeze. Then a light voice pipes up, saying something I don’t entirely register because I notice one glaringly obvious fact I should’ve been aware of all along: I am in the wrong bathroom. That explains the lack of urinals...

 

A few voices join in, names I never heard of are being thrown around, plans to hang out are made, compliments are dished out, gossip is told. Did you know Lisa kissed her best friend on the mouth, (scandalous) right after kissing her best friend’s boyfriend, (scandalous!) and just before kissing her boyfriend’s best friend’s girlfriend (such scandal!) last Saturday? Because I sure as hell did not. Last Saturday must’ve been wild.

 

Eventually they leave and I breathe a sigh of relief. I get off of the toilet seat, and take in a deep breath before opening the door and heading out.

 

“Oh,” a voice says. Oh god.

 

I turn my head towards them and oh god. Oh shit. It’s him.

 

“This isn’t what it looks like,” I say, knowing that I probably wouldn’t be able to get out of this one. Especially not with my disappearing act earlier.

 

“Look, if you’re trans, that’s completely okay,” he says, rocking back and forth on his heels.

 

I frantically shake my head, hoping the heat on my face isn’t what I think it is. “No, no, I’m not, I just...” panicked because I met you and I am not ready so I tried to escape but I “...went into the wrong bathroom.”

 

Please don’t remember me, you just saw my face for like half a second, please, please, please don’t remember me.

 

He cracks a smile and averts his gaze, “Yeah, that’s understandable. That was quite the exit you made back there.”

 

God I think I’ll just kill myself right now.

 

My silence must’ve stretched on for too long, because he coughs awkwardly and reaches his hand out to me. “I’m Takashi Shirogane, by the way. Just call me Shiro.”

 

“Adam Wright” I smile, taking it and giving it one firm shake.

 

 

-

 

 

I’ve had about a dozen new favourite colours in the past week, all of which I’ve grown bored of.

 

Orange seemed like the perfect fit, but the uniforms sort of ruined that for me. I liked my eyes, but that seemed narcissistic. Blue was nice. I stuck with blue for about a day, before my neck started to ache from looking up all the time. Purple and green are nice, but I think they are too bright.

 

I voice my concerns to Shiro, telling him how I feel a bit guilty about not properly appreciating this new gift the world has given me.

 

“Maybe you don’t need a favourite colour?” he suggests around a mouthful of bread and eggs. I cringe.

 

“What’s the point of finally seeing colours if you can’t pick a favourite?” I say.

 

He shrugs. I wonder if he’s already picked one. I decide to ask. It makes him blush.

 

“Nah, not really. I don’t see the point,” he says with a shrug, chewing thoughtfully on his bread. He covers his mouth quickly when I shoot him a glare. Disgusting. We’ll have to fix that.

 

I’ve decided that I dislike pretty much every colour as much as the last one.

 

 

-

 

 

Without noticing, we both dragged each other into our routines. Naturally they clashed in ugly ways during the first weeks, but big changes have been made since then. Shiro convinced me to sleep and wake up earlier, which gives me enough energy to join him on a morning run every second day. I managed to get him to spend more time lazing about on our beds while I read him stories or articles. I like to think he seems more relaxed now. One thing we both agree on is that one walk a day, around this garden nearby was absolutely necessary.

 

Today it’s his turn to pay for ice cream.

 

 

-

 

 

Shiro is handsome. He could fix that stupid hair tuft he’s got going (it’s barely noticeable, just slightly longer than everything else, but it bothers me) but other than that, I’d have to say that he’s rather good looking.

 

The stares he gets are enough proof of that, though the few confessions of ‘undying love’ confirm it.

 

“Sorry, I already found my soulmate,” he says to a boy whose face is an alarming shade of red.

 

I don’t get it, the whole soulmate thing. Just because a few chemicals decide that you’re supposed to be together, doesn’t mean you have to listen.

 

My family doesn’t believe in fate. We think it’s all a load of bullcrap, and people should decide who they want to be with on their own. I’m not sure if that’s the reason for my parents’ marriage or the result of it. My parents’ lives are grey. Sometimes I wonder if finding their soulmate would change anything. I don’t like wondering about this.

 

“You don’t have to hold yourself back because of me,” I say after the boy left. He’s cute. They’d look good together.

 

Shiro stares at me, seemingly surprised at that. “I want to.” He starts, cheeks tinting in a sort of rosy colour which I’ve learned to appreciate, “I’d like to be with you.”

 

It doesn’t surprise me. A lot of people are in love with the idea of finally finding their soulmate and living the rest of their days in bliss with this one person who’d been chosen for them from the beginning. I respect that. It’s romantic, I guess. But it’s not my thing.

 

I stuff my books in my bag and sling it over my shoulder as I stand. He looks embarrassed when I stare down at him, and I resist the urge to pinch those cheeks.

 

“How can you be sure?” I say, turning on my heel and leaving him there.

 

 

-

 

 

Shiro has a boyfriend now.

 

I shouldn’t be jealous. I’m not jealous. I told him not to hold back. I’m just a bit annoyed. Not at the boyfriend thing. It’s about Shiro’s time. He spends so much time doing weird space nerd stuff already, and now he’s got a boyfriend as well. Where do I, Adam Wright, his best friend and flight partner, fit in this equation? Sure, there’s always evenings, nights and mornings, but who has enough energy to do anything at that time? Depending on which one you choose, I don’t, Shiro doesn’t or neither of us do. The walks have been put on hold.

 

His boyfriend’s nice enough, I guess. But I hate that Shiro started taking him to our room. That’s our private space, and I don’t need any gross, lovestruck sounds in the background. If I had wanted lovebirds, I would’ve bought myself some.

 

 

-

 

 

“Excellent work as always, Mr Wright,” my teacher says while putting down a sheet of paper before me.

 

"Takashi Shirogane.” The teacher sighs, “your score in the simulator is unbeatable. Too bad all of that talent’s put to waste when you know nothing about the ship itself.”

 

I wince at that and resist the urge to turn around. Shiro’s something like a prodigy when it comes to the simulator, managing to make it through level 12 with ease. It’s like he’s a natural, like he just knows what to do to get things going smoothly. Sadly, the same thing couldn’t be said about any other subject. It’s less that he’s stupid or lazy, and more that his mind just drifts off and drops whatever knowledge it absorbed down a drain.

 

“Shiro,” I whisper, nudging him when he doesn’t hear.

 

He snaps his head towards me and red paints his face again. He gets flustered so easily, for no apparent reason. I briefly wonder about all the ways to make him blush, before reminding myself that that could lead to dangerous territory, and also Shiro’s looking at me like he’s expecting me to answer something. Did he say something? Did I say something? I don’t remember. His cheeks are distracting.

 

“The next test’s in two days. It’s last minute, but I’ll help you study, alright?” I offer, sending him a smile.

 

“Yes. Yeah, sounds cool. Thanks.”

 

I wonder if it was something as unbelievable as fate, or just sheer dumb luck that put us both in the same room, but I won’t complain. It’ll make this whole thing easier. My side's been pretty bare since day one, a few unread books, two framed pictures of my family and one succulent. Shiro’s side of the room has filled up as the days went by. A large, drawn poster of our solar system was taped over his desk, right at the centre, surrounded by an article of the first moon landing back in 1969 (HOW did he even get that?), a signed picture of Akira Kogane (the best pilot to date), some inspirational quote about stars which I've never bothered to read and a few random pictures. What a nerd. No wonder he's here.

 

Shiro's sitting at his desk and I lean over him to see his work, instantly pleased with what I see. I’m surprised to see that he does keep his notes organised. It’s a bit amusing to see everything colour coded and to havekeywords highlighted in different colours depending on importance, when each and every test ends up being an absolute failure. The problem’s obviously not here, so this’ll be fun.

 

“Alright, what’s your problem?” I ask.

 

“Look at my notes, Adam.”

 

“I’m looking. They’re perfect.”

 

“Exactly!” he exclaims. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong! I write it down, I highlight it, I write down some extra fun facts, and I should be good to go! But I’m not! I read through it and my mind stays blank!” A groan leaves his lips and I try not to laugh. We can fix this. It’s fine.

 

He hunches in on himself and I pat his back with a sigh. "Have you considered rephrasing it?"

 

Panic, bemusement, frustration and finally realisation flashed across his face in almost and instant and the small 'oh' he made almost got me. God, this idiot's been taking this too seriously. He's so cute, I hate myself.

 

"I’m an idiot."

 

"Yes, you are."

 

He stares at the page for a few more seconds before smiling up at me. "Thanks, man." He laughs, then pulls me into a loose and slightly awkward hug.

 

 

-

 

 

They broke up.

 

 

-

 

 

"Adam!"

 

I turn to see Shiro running towards me, grinning brightly. Sometimes he overwhelms me. I’m not sure which part of him makes me want to hide away in a corner, but it’s definitely also the same part that just makes me want to grab him and keep him to myself. It’s like he’s this grandiose creature of light and I’m nothing but a greedy mole rat, ready to keep all that warmth to myself. I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I’ll be damned if anyone tries to take him away. I might just be a mole rat, but I need my sun just as much as everyone else.

 

"Shiro, how was your weekend?" I smile as he catches up to me and we continue walking forward.

 

I see the tall wall closing off the garden from the rest of the city in front of us as Shiro excitedly tells me about driving off to some places in the middle of multiple nowhere’s to watch the stars. I’m not quite sure what there is to watch, the skies have been the same for years, but I listen anyways. When I lost my love for the stars is a weird question I can’t answer, given the fact that I’m still in the garrison and still in the pilot program. Something draws me to them, but at the same time I want to be as far away as possible. They don’t seem safe.

 

"How was yours?" he asks, inching a bit closer. It’s getting colder, the winter holidays are just around the corner.

 

"I finally rediscovered books," I tell him, feeling my face heat up as he congratulates me and bumps our shoulders together.

 

We enter the garden and Shiro sits down on a small pile of fallen leaves. I complain about slugs and other small animals being in there, he only laughs and pulls me down with him. Our breath turns to smoke as we talk and he somehow gets me to blow out air to act like a dragon. He briefly complains about his hands getting cold, so some random, uncontrolled part of me grabs them and makes me keep them sandwiched between mine until he’s satisfied. His face matches the leaves we sit on. I’ll miss him during the Christmas holidays.

 

It’s my turn to pay today.

 

 

-

 

 

I'm always happy to see my family again over the holidays. It’s not as refreshing as seeing a new face each day, but it’s extremely relaxing to find a place in the mundane routine that is the Wright household. My family has been making do without me, the gaps which my leave had made were either filled or replaced by one of my younger brothers. Now that I’m back for the week, those same gaps open again to make place for me doing chores, walking the dog and teasing my brothers.

 

"Daaaaad, Adam’s gonna kill me!" my brother squeals from the headlock I’d put him in, battering my arms helplessly.

 

"Don’t exaggerate, Luca, Adam wouldn’t put his record in risk like that," dad yells back from the kitchen. Mom would be home late today due to a meeting, which meant that the house was filled with two boys who couldn’t shut up, my father, who had no idea how to control them and me.

 

Luca manages to slip out of my grasp and I chase him through the living room for a minute before he runs upstairs. Definitely to play something with Ethan on that old Mercury Gameflux. Or maybe they play DnD? I’m not sure. They don’t invite me.

 

"Adam, could you come over for a second?" dad calls and I walk into the kitchen. He gives me a knife and a few vegetables to chop and I start, waiting for him to speak. He’s always a bit nervous when wanting to discuss something, and even more jumpy than usual. I sometimes wonder how he never cut his fingers off after working in a kitchen for years. I also wonder how he could even trust me with food, given that he’s the chef in our house. It makes me a bit anxious and I try to cut a bit slower and more precisely.

 

"How’s school?" He asks.

 

"Going well."

 

"Any new friends?"

 

I think for a second. "One. We’ve been friends for a while. Takashi Shirogane, my roommate."

 

"Why not tell us about him sooner?" He looks puzzled.

 

"There was a small problem." I hesitate. "He’s my soulmate. And he thought he liked me because of that."

 

Dad makes a small noise and I can feel him staring at me. He’s able to make me so nervous without even doing anything significant. I feel like if I’d take one wrong step or say something a bit too loudly, he’d stop looking at me as if I were his son. Of course I know that he’d never disown me, but there’s something about him. It freaks me out.

 

"I need to tell you something," he says, and I set the knife down slowly, turning towards him. After the lack of response he decides to continue. "My life’s in colour. It’s been in colour for the longest time." I stare, he sighs. "I met her, my soulmate, when I was seventeen. I fell in love with her the second I saw her and everything around me. Then college came around and I was planning to marry her, but... Then I met your mother. And she knocked me off my feet, literally! Long story short, I fell in love with her, and ever since I’ve felt more than I’d ever had with my soulmate. I broke it off with her and eventually married your mother. I couldn’t tell her about my soulmate. Back then she wouldn’t have dared to even try to come between us. So I lied, because I was in love. Because of her smile, her laugh, her eyes, her stories. Not because she wasn’t my soulmate," he says, a small smile on his face.

 

It takes a second to process. Dad’s life has been in colour for years. Not something I expected to hear, but not impossible. Okay. Was mom’s life in colour? Does it matter? Does colour matter? Should I be upset? Enlightened? Shocked? Should I feel anything at all?

 

Dad puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes once, smiling kindly at me when I look back. "What I’m saying is, you shouldn’t freak out about this Takashi-" "Shiro." "Right. About this Shiro guy. My feelings back then were real. His right now could be real. And if you’ll feel anything, that’ll be real too. They can always change, but please. Don’t let your parents’ little love story scare you from trying. All right?"

 

I look into his eyes for a second, still a little confused, before nodding.

 

My name is Adam Wright. I am fifteen years old. I have two younger brothers, Luca, who is thirteen, and Ethan, who is twelve. I have a dog, Pebbles. My mother and father are very much in love, even though they’re not soulmates. Shiro and I are not in love, even though we are soulmates. But nonetheless I think Shiro might still like me. And maybe, and this is a big maybe, I might like him back. Just a little.

 

 

-

 

 

Pebbles is a good dog.

 

No one really knows what breed she is, there’s too many in there to make an accurate guess. We got her when she was six from a shelter three years ago, and I’ve never loved a creature more than I do her.

 

She’s leading me down a path we’ve walked a thousand times. I could walk the whole way with my eyes closed, lead only by my memory and Pebbles’ yaps. The end of the road will show a gorgeous view of the town,

 

If Pebbles were a person, I feel like we’d be good friends. She’s just the best. She’s a great listener, she tells amazing jokes, she loves hiking and she’s just filled with this light and happiness no human being could ever have. If she could share some of her wisdom with me, I’m completely convinced it’ll contain something about love and light and spreading joy, or maybe about learning to love yourself. Or something else entirely.

 

Her tail wags when she looks back and barks at me.

 

Sometimes I wonder if maybe Pebbles is the only one who truly loves me. I wouldn’t mind it.

 

We reach our spot and I lay myself down on the snow. It’s soft but it quickly fastens as I dip down further. Even though it’s cold, the feeling numbs and makes place for warmth. My cheeks are practically frozen. Pebbles runs around for a while, barking excitedly at a few things I fail to notice. The snowy scenery makes everything look grey again. She eventually returns and sits down next to me. I hug her side and pat her as I bury my face in her fur. She smells like rain and wet dog. Also buttered popcorn.

 

"Pebbles, what would you do in my shoes?"

 

She looks down at me and some drool lands on my cheek. Ew. I wipe it off and smile as she lays her head on my chest.

 

I tell her about the many woes of a highschool student.

 

 

-

 

 

"Shiro, what’s your favourite colour?" I ask as soon as he enters our room.

 

He looks at me for a second before breaking out in laughter and setting his suitcase down.

 

I missed him. The talk with my father (and Pebbles) got me thinking, but it seems like I’m not as in touch with myself as I thought. The only answers I got from asking myself were messed up jumbles of feelings which tore me in multiple directions, some of which I don’t even want to think about. But now that I see him again, I can’t even hide my smile. I missed our routine, I missed our daily walks to the garden, I missed that constant blush, I missed his occasional, cute burst of rage, I missed the way he pulled his upper lip and nose up when he laughed too hard.

 

I just missed him.

 

"I don’t even get a hello?" He grins, starting to put his clothes into his closet. "Hmm.. If I absolutely had to choose.. Yellow? It’s happy."

 

I lay down on his bed and nod. I see what he means. As he unpacks, I hum the tune of some nameless song. Bored. I am bored. I am a board. I'm so invested in my state of being a board, that I don’t notice Shiro laying down next to me until he taps my arm. I turn and I wouldn’t have been able to hide my smile if I wanted to.

 

Looking (and with that I mean really looking) at him makes me realise one thing:

 

Takashi Shirogane has the most unbelievably breathtaking eyes. They’re ought to be the best colour (colours?) I’ve ever seen. ‘Just dark grey’ as if! They give the night sky a run for its money.

 

 

-

 

 

On a completely unrelated note,

 

My favourite colour is dark grey.

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually supposed to have a rlly sad ending but nevermind smh.


End file.
